


"If there was ever a time to seize the day, now was that time"

by queenofthelot



Category: Doctor Who, Doctor Who (2005)
Genre: F/M, Spoilers through Cold Blood
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-02-27
Updated: 2016-02-27
Packaged: 2018-05-23 14:38:43
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,248
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6119569
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/queenofthelot/pseuds/queenofthelot





	"If there was ever a time to seize the day, now was that time"

They hadn’t done much that week. No action, really; More or less pleasure traveling. “Leisure,” The Doctor had said as he opened the TARDIS doors each day. Each and every time those doors swung open there was something new on the other side, whether it be the Parisian landscape of the 1920s or perhaps a crowded subway station in present-day Manhattan; it was always something different, and not evil and out to kill the Doctor.

Amy appreciated this greatly.

The fifth day of pleasant time travelling week is spent in modern day Spain, for no particular reason. At first Amy is confused as to why everyone is speaking English; this _is_ supposed to be a non-English speaking country after all. The Doctor enjoys watching her puzzled face as they walk by the Museo del Prado and patiently waits for her to ask what’s going on. After about 20 minutes he has to explain yet another secret of the TARDIS.

They explore all day, starting with a nice breakfast of churros and chocolate sauce. Amy says that’s not really a breakfast but then the Doctor asks her why she finished her order of it to which Amy crosses her arms and playfully pouts. They go through Barcelona and marvel at the buildings and the infamous mosaic statues and benches. They stop in a few museums. The Doctor would never have guessed but Amy has a bit of a thing for art. He guesses it’s because she still draws pictures of her Raggedy Doctor to this day and has admiration for her predecessors in the field. They walk a lot. Sometimes they talk or just carry on silently, but their silences are never awkward. They’re just natural.

It’s at lunch while paying the bill for a plate of shrimp paella, that they’re mistaken for a couple. Amy’s used to it by now, as she’s been traveling alongside the Doctor for a couple of months now. It happens more often than he had imagined it would. He looks at the server for a minute, asking him to repeat what he said and then the Doctor smiles at Amy before smiling back at the server and saying no, no, just friends. Amy wonders when he’ll stop trying to correct people on it. The Doctor wonders when he’ll sit Pond down and tell her how he really feels.

The waiter quickly says "Aprovecha el momento, no lo malgastes," and winks at the Doctor before they leave.

_Seize the moment, don’t waste it._

Late afternoon they’re walking arm and arm down a city street by a park and some apartment buildings and boutiques. They’re not talking and her head sets itself on his shoulder while his free arm pats her interlocked one lovingly. Seconds later his head is on top of hers and he sighs. She smiles, eyes still looking straight ahead.

This was new, and this wasn’t exactly what she had expected. She had expected adventure and danger and space. She had gotten all of that within her first trip in the TARDIS; perhaps she was bored of it and hungered for something else. A tear slipped down her cheek, hitting the corner of her mouth where her smile now turned into a puzzled frown. Amy reached up and rubbed the moisture between her fingers before wiping her hand on her skirt.

“Pond, something the matter?”

“No, I-I just had a funny feeling that’s all. It’s not normal to cry for no apparent reason?”

“I suppose not. Then again I’m not a human and have no real concept of humany wumany emotions such as ones you could possibly be experiencing right now.” The Doctor smiled warily down at her.

They stopped in front of a jewelry store. Amy looked expectantly at the display through the window, trying her best not to fog up the glass or leave handprints. She had never been one to enjoy jewelry, but the ones in the display were of such variety, so different and exciting and _foreign_ that she couldn’t help but ogle at the items. The Doctor stood next to her, scanning quickly to see if there was anything of real value in front of them. His eyes stopped on a piece in the front row, far right; a simple solitaire engagement ring.

“Doctor look!” Amy pointed at the ring, not knowing the Doctor had been staring at the same piece. “Isn’t it just lovely?”

He looked down at her, frowning, then quickly smiling to cover up anything she might have seen pass over his face. “Yes. It really is. I can’t quite tell what the gemstone is though. Could be a cubic zirconia… I can’t remember if those are valuable around here though…” His voice trailed off as he continued to look at her, but she instead turned back to the display.

Amy giggled. “It’s probably a diamond. That’s kind of a typical stone for an engagement ring.”

“So that’s what it is! Brilliant!”

“You think a woman would really just want a simple ring like that? Please, Doctor.” She rolled her eyes.

“I swear, you women might be an alien species all your own.”

Amy patted his chest. “Save it for River.” She turned them and they headed on their way, back to where the TARDIS was located.

Later that night, he makes sure she’s soundly asleep before slipping out and going back to the jewelry store. It’s completely closed now and the street is practically empty except for a few stragglers, heading home after a night of bar hopping. He shoves his hands into his pockets and rocks back and forth on his steels, staring into the window. The display is nicely lit in the dark, almost like a beacon calling to all, like a treasure buried in a grimy city boulevard. The Doctor tilts his head and edges closer, nose almost pressed against the glass, eyes trained on the ring as if it might move if he blinks.

He breathes in deeply, counting this as one of the more confusing moments in his 900 years of life. Rory’s gone; Amy doesn’t remember him, a perfect moment to take her for his own. The Doctor hopes she’ll remember her Rory before the Doctor claims her for his own, traveling with her for years to come and never looking back. She would never know, but he’s unsure if he could live with a guilty conscience. He pauses; he’s had to live with a guilty conscience for how many years already? Companion after companion, death after death, planet after planet. Sometimes even he wonders how he can sleep at night.

_Seize the moment, don’t waste it._

The Doctor thinks how this kind of guilty conscience could easily be subdued with a particular ginger by his side, traveling all of space and time. He thinks how she reminds of him of what it’s like to be happy for once, how to let go for a moment and let his imagination take over. He thinks how Rory Williams never existed and never will and how Amy might love him too, at least, she kissed him that one time and obviously wanted more.

_Seize the moment, don’t waste it._

The diamond twinkles at him under the decorative lighting like the stars do above his head, and all throughout the Universe.

_Seize the moment, don’t waste it._

He thinks how if there was ever a time to seize the day, now was that time.

_Seize the moment, don’t waste it._


End file.
